Shoppers can buy water with their O.C. sandals

In Southern California it's possible to wear flip flops everywhere from the beach to the opera.

But a Huntington Beach company may be the only one that offers patent-pending ergonomic design AND a glass of water with that footwear.

Freewaters is the brain child of Eli Marmar, Martin Kim and Jeff Osthus. College friends Marmar and Kim were educated in industrial design. For the past decade, Marmar has been designing wetsuits, and Kim has been designing snowboard boots.

Osthus' expertise is in sales, which is important in an industry with lots of competition (if you don't believe me, go to online shoe retailer Zappos.com and search for "flip flops.")

"Two or three years ago Martin and I talked seriously about doing something together," Marmar says. Entrepreneurship wasn't exactly a childhood dream, he says, but after 10 years of designing products for others, the two designers decided it was time to do something on their own.

"It's scary, to be honest," Marmar says. "It's a big risk, but we got an investor who believed in us and every (career) change I've made has felt like it was the right time."

Freewaters' sales, customer service and distribution are in Huntington Beach. But Marmar and Kim deliberately moved themselves out of the Orange County beach lifestyle to a rural part of the Bay Area.

"We're both familiar enough with the surf culture, but it's easy to work in a formulaic way and be affected by everyone around you," Marmar says. "Here we can think (of footwear design) from a different perspective."

That perspective is not this season's fashion statement but fixing some of the discomfort of wearing flip flops 24/7.

Freewaters has applied for three patents on aspects of its sandal designs:

1. On some soles, the foam at the heel and arch is firm to provide support and resist impact, while the foam under the ball of the foot and toes is soft for comfort. The strap between the toes is also two densities for comfort.

2. Freewaters' Heelium Series of sandals has an ergonomic platform for the foot combined with light weight. The company says this line is half the weight at half the price of competing styles.

3. Other designs combine the technology of a running shoe's midsole with sandal style. The result is less foot fatigue after wearing the sandal for long periods.

Besides the design freedom, the company has given the founders other opportunity, which is to build a cause into the business.

That cause is ProjectFreewaters.org, a company-led effort to provide clean drinking water to third-world countries. The sale of each pair of sandals will provide clean drinking water for one person for an entire year.

"Every year, more people die from the consequences of unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. Dirty water and a lack of proper hygiene kill 3.3 million people annually, most of them children under the age of 5," Freewaters' website explains.

Freewaters sandals are priced between $26 and $100.

The marketing strategy has been to start with surf shops that sell a lot of sandals and online stores such as Zappos.com, Marmar says. Next the company will target the outdoor sports market, "which is really thriving now."

After those two market segments, Freewaters will sell to fashion boutiques, he adds.

The designers are also expanding the product line to house shoes for fall and winter.

"Then you are not going to see anything else from us for a few years," Marmar says. "We're not going to be like Crocs or Birkenstocks. That's not us. We're going to be quality design an social responsibility."